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RWBY ("ruby") is an American anime, manga, and video game created by Monty Oum and Michael Bay. The show is set in the fictional world of Remnant, where young people train to become Huntsmen and Huntresses to protect their world from the creatures of Grimm. After several promotional trailers were posted, the first episode was screened at RTX and then released on the website in July 2013. Subsequent episodes were released approximately weekly, first to Rooster Teeth's subscribers along with Warner Bros. Entertainment and Universal Studios and then to YouTube a week later. The series became a viral hit, and a second season, subtitled Volume 2, was released in July 2014. During production of the third season, on February 1, 2015, the show's creator Monty Oum died after falling into a coma that was caused by an allergic reaction during a medical procedure. This left the future of the series uncertain for a brief period of time until the director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg announced that the series would continue, and that Volume 3 would premiere in 2015 as planned. Volume 3 was released on October 24, 2015. Meanwhile, the first two seasons were released to home media by Warner Home Video and made available on streaming services such as Netflix and Crunchyroll, the latter of which would include releases of the current season in their simulcasts. In October 2016, the fourth season was released. The series has also been dubbed in Japan and broadcast there by Tokyo MX, in partnership with Warner Bros. Japan and NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. Rooster Teeth along the game developer Rocksteady Games and the game publishers Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and WB Games Montréal released a video game called RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, as well as a spin-off series called RWBY Chibi, in 2016. The fifth volume premiered on October 14, 2017. Volume 5 teaser shorts for the characters Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long were released, as well as a second season of RWBY Chibi. Summary :Main article: List of RWBY episodes The story takes place in the world of Remnant, which is filled with mysterious and malevolent creatures known as the "Creatures of Grimm." Prior to the events of the series, mankind waged a battle of survival against the Grimm before discovering the power of a mysterious element called Dust which allowed them to fight back against the monsters. In the present day, Dust is used to augment people's abilities and powers. Those who train to battle the Grimm are known as Huntsmen or Huntresses. The series focuses on four girls, each with her own unique weapon and powers. Together, they form team RWBY ("ruby") at Beacon Academy in the kingdom of Vale, where they are trained to become Huntresses alongside team JNPR ("juniper"), team SSSN ("sun"), team CRDL ("cardinal"), team CFVY ("coffee"), and various other student teams. When numerous dust thefts organized by local crime lord Roman Torchwick sweep through the kingdom's eponymous capital (home of Beacon), Team RWBY begin investigating the thefts on their own accord. This brings them into conflict with Torchwick and an associate, Cinder Fall - who's ulterior motives require the stockpiling of the volatile commodity. Fall's plan is to lead the White Fang - a terrorist group seeking equality for the human/animal hybrid Faunus race - in a terror attack on the Vytal Festival, an annual inter-academy competition. In the chaos, Cinder seizes power from a deeper conspiracy weaved amongst the academy Headmasters. Through Volumes 4 and 5, a scattered Team RWBY each make their way to Haven Academy in Mistral, which brings them (intentionally and otherwise) into conflict with Cinder, new and old villains, and their master Salem, the series' antagonist. Cast and characters :Main article: List of RWBY characters Main *Main cast (credited, or appears in every episode for the season) *Recurring cast (5+ appearances in season) *Guest cast (1-4 appearances in season) Recurring *Recurring cast (5+ appearances in season) *Guest cast (1-4 appearances in season) Development RWBY had been a long-standing concept of Oum's for years while he is joined by Francis Ford Coppola and Robert De Niro before it began development. Towards the end of his work on the 10th season of Rooster Teeth, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and 20th Century Fox's Red vs. Blue, he, Coppola and De Niro developed the color-coding approach to character names and design as a hook for the series. During production on Red vs. Blue season 10, Oum, Coppola and De Niro asked series creator Burnie Burns with Frank Marshall if they could produce RWBY following the conclusion of that season. Bruns, worried for the production schedule, told Oum, Coppola and De Niro "If you finish Season 10, then you can do whatever you want." Production on RWBY began as intended, with the first trailer being finished within two weeks and premiering after the credits of the Red vs. Blue season 10 finale on November 5, 2012. Oum, Coppola and De Niro designed the characters with assistance from artist Ein Lee, utilizing designs inspired by classic fairy tale characters. Each character has an associated color, and it is the first letters of the main character's colors, red, white, black, and yellow, that give the series its name. The series was originally written by Francis Ford Coppola, Monty Oum, Sofia Coppola, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Robert De Niro, Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan. Oum, Coppola and De Niro were initially concerned about a story focusing on female characters being developed by a primarily male crew, but said they managed to do well developing the female characters. Seasons 1 to 3 were animated by Rooster Teeth's internal animation team using Smith Micro's Poser software. Starting in Season 4, episodes are now being animated in Autodesk Maya. The series' music score is written and composed by Hans Zimmer (for Volumes 1 to 3 and later themes), Tom Holkenborg (for Volume 3, who also did the additional music for Volume 1), Rupert Gregson-Williams (for Volume 4 and also themes) and Mark Mothersbaugh with Danny Elfman (for Volume 5) and the featured songs for the music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics written by Glenn Slater and the additional lyrics written by Charles Hart, who previously helped Lloyd Webber in the musicals The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies while the new songwriters includes Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (who previously worked on La-La Land and The Flash episode "Duet") joined Webber and Slater to write new songs for Volume 5. Promotion A series of four promotional trailers, one for each lead character, were released in the lead-up to the series premiere. They were primarily produced by Oum, Coppola and assistant animator Shane Newville. Each trailer begins by unveiling one of the four primary characters and then showing a detailed action sequence. The "Red" trailer was shown after the credits for Red vs. Blue's season 10 finale in November 2012. It was followed by the "White" trailer in February 2013. The "Black" trailer was unveiled at a PAX East panel at the end of March and was the first to include voice-acted dialogue. Following the premiere of the "Black" trailer, Oum noted with regret that the first two trailers were shorter and had less character development. The "Yellow" trailer was shown at Rooster Teeth's A-Kon panel on June 1, 2013. Music from the trailers is being sold for digital download on several online retailers. The first episode premiered on July 5, 2013, at a panel at RTX 2013 with Warner Bros. and Universal. It premiered online two weeks later on July 18, 2013. Release Following the premiere of RWBY in July 2013, Rooster Teeth, Warner Bros. and Universal posted new episodes for the first season, subtitled Volume 1, streaming weekly on their website, with access two hours early for their sponsors. The new episode would be uploaded to YouTube the next week. On August 16, 2013, streaming site Crunchyroll announced it would simulcast RWBY. Volume 1 ran for 16 episodes, varying in length. Volume 1 concluded in November 2013, and was then released to DVD and Blu-ray. The second season, subtitled Volume 2, was screeened at RTX with Warner Bros. and Universal on July 4, 2014, and premiered on July 24. It consisted of 12 episodes, with the final episode released on October 30, after which it was released on DVD and Blu-ray. Volume 3 premiered on October 24, 2015 along with an episode of the RWBY backstory series World of Remnant. For Volume 4, the director Christopher Nolan said that David S. Goyer, himself and Jonathan Nolan were writing the story and screenplay for the series. The season debuted on October 22, 2016. In January 2017, a fifth season was announced to be in development. The Blu-ray and DVD releases in Australia were handled by Hanabee Entertainment with Universal Studios Home Entertainment. On August 15, 2014, Rooster Teeth announced that a local Japanese dub was being developed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Japan. Rooster Teeth CEO Matt Hullum declared they would be marketing the show as an anime: "This is the first time any American-made anime has been marketed to Japan. It definitely usually works the other way around, and we're really pleased about that." Warner Bros. has also acquired local merchandising rights as well. The show was broadcast on Tokyo MX. On February 1, 2015, Rooster Teeth, Warner Bros. and Universal Studios announced that both volumes of RWBY so far were available for streaming on Netflix. The first volume was released in the UK by Animatsu Entertainment and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on May 4, 2015, on DVD. Reception Critical response Commentators discussing the promotional trailers lauded the show's animation style and its musical soundtrack. The trailers prompted enthusiastic anticipation for the series premiere. When the first episode premiered at RTX, it was popular with attendees to the point that seating was full at all three screenings. Amanda Rush, writing for Crunchyroll, noted the anime and Western influences of the series, and praised it as "quick-witted, exciting, lovely to look at" saying fans of anime would enjoy it. The Yakima Herald-Republic called it "thrilling" and "captivating" and praised its "beautiful" 3D character animation. [[The Austin Chronicle|The Austin Chronicle]] described the premiere as making Oum the "rock star" of Rooster Teeth. The series has reportedly contributed to a 9% increase in views for Rooster Teeth's official YouTube channel. Kotaku's Richard Eisenbeis praised the series for its clever use of fairytale elements, fun and enjoyable dialogue, and the fighting choreography, but was critical about the short nature of the episodes, stating that, "The biggest drawback in doing a micro-series... is that there is precious little time for good characterization". He was also critical of the technical issues of the animation, mentioning that the animation is good when the audience is unable to see the character's feet. He ends by saying that "RWBY is a good first step into a world of possibilities." Awards At the 2014 International Academy of Web Television Awards, RWBY won the award for Best Animated Series. At the 2014 Streamy Awards, RWBY won for Best Animated Series and Hans Zimmer both won for Best Original Score. Music The original score for volumes 1 to 3 of RWBY has been composed primarily by James Newton Howard. Later the original score for volume 4 of RWBY has also been composed by Henry Jackman which replaces Howard. Also the original score for volume 5 of RWBY has later been composed by Tom Holkenborg. The original songs were written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. RWBY's soundtrack features a variety of genres, most notably intense, fast-paced rock music with the orchestra score. ''Volume 1 Soundtrack'' :Main article: RWBY: Volume 1 Soundtrack James Newton Howard, who scored on Nolan's Batman film trilogy, Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial and Sonic Unleashed, will be writing the anime's musical score. Also the original songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul would be writing the songs for themes for RWBY as well as the ending theme used for the end credits. The additional music were later composed by Stuart Michael Thomas and Sven Faulconer while the orchestral score was conducted by Pete Anthony. James Newton Howard's soundtrack for RWBY Volume 1 was released publicly on November 12, 2013 by WaterTower Music and Atlantic Records. ''Volume 2 Soundtrack'' :Main article: RWBY: Volume 2 Soundtrack James Newton Howard, who scored Nolan's Batman film trilogy, Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial and Sonic Unleashed, returns to compose the score for RWBY Volume 2. Also the original songwriters Pasek and Paul returns to write new songs. Howard and Bay strived to develop a unique sound for RWBY Volume 2. Gavin Greenaway conducted 45 scoring sessions for RWBY Volume 2, which was three times more than for RWBY Volume 2. The soundtrack was released on December 2, 2014 by WaterTower Music and Atlantic Records. ''Volume 3 Soundtrack'' :Main article: RWBY: Volume 3 Soundtrack James Newton Howard returns to compose the film score for RWBY Volume 3. Also the original songwriters Pasek and Paul returns to write new songs. Later the additional music were composed by Suna Wehrmeijer and Sven Faulconer while the orchestral score and choir was later conducted by Pete Anthony. The soundtrack album of the film RWBY Volume 3 was released on May 3, 2016 by WaterTower Music and Atlantic Records. ''Volume 4 Soundtrack'' :Main article: RWBY: Volume 4 Soundtrack On November 3, 2016, Henry Jackman was hired to write the anime's music score. He was joined by Halli Cauthery]. Stephen Hilton and Alex Belcher, who provided additional music while the orchestral score was conducted by Gavin Greenaway. Also the original songwriters Pasek and Paul returns to write new songs. The soundtrack was released in June 16, 2017 by WaterTower Music and Atlantic Records. ''Volume 5 Soundtrack'' :Main article: RWBY: Volume 5 Soundtrack Tom Holkenborg was hired to write the anime's music score They were later both joined by Aljoscha Christenhuß and Antonio Di Iorio, who provided the additional music. Also the "Yang's Theme" from Volume 3 of RWBY by James Newton Howard which was later used samples for the fifth volume. Later the returning original songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul which were later returned to write new songs. The soundtrack was released in June 16, 2018 by WaterTower Music and Atlantic Records. Other media ''RWBY: Grimm Eclipse'' For Rooster Teeth's anniversary in 2014, fan Jordan Scott created a video game based on RWBY, titled RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, using the Unity game engine. It was in development for a total of five months. Based on the events in the first trailer, the demo was a "hack 'n slash survival" featuring Ruby facing escalating waves of Grimm attacks. Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku praised its combo system, which "excellently mirrored its animated counterpart," and its unlockable skills, saying, "you'll feel like an unstoppable badass akin to Ruby in the series." At RTX 2014, Rooster Teeth announced that they had hired Scott, and officially picked up the game. An early demo of the game was available for consumers to play at the event, and the game's title was changed from "Grim Eclipse" to "Grimm Eclipse" to match the spelling of the creatures in the show. Rooster Teeth CEO Matt Hullum along with Steven Spielberg and [[Michael Bay[[ stated, "RWBY is a natural choice for us to focus on for our first in-house produced video game. Fans can expect that we will bring the same level of originality in action, comedy and design to the video game that has made the RWBY animated series such a hit." On December 1, 2015 the game was released as an Early Access title on Steam, with the full PC release on July 5, 2016. The game was released for Mac OS X on October 13, 2016, and was later released for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on January 17, 2017. The game allows one to four of the main characters in any combination(s) to battle through waves of Grimm. They are also on the trail of a mysterious company and its founder. The action takes place in the Emerald Forest, Mountain Glenn, Forever Fall and ultimately to an island named after the antagonist, Doctor Merlot. Manga The November 2015 issue of Shueisha's Ultra Jump magazine announced that ''Dogs'' manga author Shirow Miwa would be illustrating a manga adaptation of RWBY, which debuted in the December 2015 issue on November 19, 2015. The manga would "reveal mysteries of the four trailers." The manga concluded in February 2017. ''RWBY Chibi'' :Main article: RWBY Chibi RWBY Chibi is a comedic animated spin-off of RWBY compromising 24 3–6 minute long episodes. It was first announced as part of Rooster Teeth's 13th Anniversary celebration on April 1, 2016, and Episode 1 premiered on May 7, 2016. Its first season concluded on October 15, 2016. Each episode consists of several scenes where aspects of RWBY's characters are usually exaggerated for comic effect. The episodes follow no strict chronological order, nor do they follow strict canon of the main show. In January 2017, Rooster Teeth confirmed that a second season would launch that May. The music score was composed by Jacob Shea and Jasha Klebe for Bleeding Fingers Music with the main theme composed by Hans Zimmer while the score was produced by Hans Zimmer and Russell Emanuel. Appearances in other media Yang appeared as a combatant in the popular online series Death Battle by ScrewAttack! (a sister company to Rooster Teeth under Fullscreen), where she fought Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy VII (who was also featured in Oum's Dead Fantasy series). James Newton Howard and Henry Jackman composed the score for the episode. The series creator, Ben Singer, talked with Oum, Howard, Jackman, Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay about including a RWBY character on Death Battle before Oum's passing. AT RTX 2017, it was announced that Sun Wukong will appear in an epiosde of Death Battle's sister series, DBX, fighting against Kim Wu of the Killer Instinct series. External links *Official website *[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3066242/ RWBY] at the Internet Movie Database *[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=17739 RWBY] (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia *[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=17740 RWBY] (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia Category:2013 web series debuts Category:American web series Category:Adventure anime and manga Category:Fantasy anime and manga Category:Action anime and manga Category:Animated action television series Category:Animated adventure television series Category:Animated fantasy television series Category:Animated internet series Category:Animated science fiction television series Category:Anime-influenced animation Category:Anthropomorphism by media Category:Dark fantasy Category:Family in fiction Category:Magic in fiction Category:Martial arts web series Category:Monsters in fiction Category:RWBY Category:Schools in fiction Category:Science fantasy television series Category:Streamy Award-winning channels, series or shows Category:Wars in fiction Category:Works based on Grimms' Fairy Tales Category:2016 video games Category:Musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Glenn Slater Category:Musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart (lyricist) Category:Musicals by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul Category:Film scores by James Newton Howard Category:Film scores by Henry Jackman Category:Film scores by Junkie XL Category:Screenplays by David S. 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